In this episode of the Roadtreking RV Podcast we take you to the snow-covered woods of Upper Peninsula Michigan for a winter campout and we answer lots of listener questions about camping and RV travel as we share some knock-your-socks-off destinations that belong on your bucket list. Plus, we meet a young couple who have abandoned the cubicles for a life of working from an RV on the road.

First Things First: Heating Things Up

We kick off this show full of listener input and questions by addressing the first with details about how to keep an RV warm through use of a simple DIY tip on how to regulate the heat inside your RV with an inexpensive product available at most home supply stores. Then we talk about propane and inductive cooking and what we like the best.

Question: Where is the Best Place to Buy a Used RV?

We get this question often: Where is the best place to buy a used RV? It isn't exactly easy to answer (probably why we get asked so often), but we do have some tips to offer when it comes to making your travel investment, whether you're looking for a Class A, Class B, or Class C.

Bonus Question: Best Music Playlists While RVing?

We take a great question about compiling a music playlist best suited for traveling on the road. We put it out there to our Facebook page here and received a ton of great options. By the way, my favorite is by Tom Petty's “runnin' Down a Dream.” Check out the link here to read what many others Roadtrekers are listening to when they get on the road again, including a Roadtrek-specific song called “Three Little Windows.”

RV News of the Week: RV Sales Up, Winnebago Recalls, Free Admission Days at National Parks

The RV industry expects its best year since 2006 – Class B motorhomes are selling the fastest, up 35 percent from a year ago (Read more)

Traveling App of the Week: Camping World Mobile App

Camping World has introduced the Camping World Mobile App. This all-in-one app provides quick and easy access to shop thousands of RV, camping and outdoor products as well as RVs for sale straight from your phone. You can also conveniently locate the nearest Camping World SuperCenter or any of our 100+ stores nationwide and receive directions on how to get there!

While you’re shopping from your mobile device, you can view detailed product information and read customer-submitted product reviews. If you’re in the market for a new rig, view thousands of RV’s for sale across the country. RV listings include all the vehicle information, which you can email, print or share via social media straight.

Traveling Tech of the Week: iDrive Cloud Backup

We all hear the horror stories of corrupted hard drives, lost and stolen laptops or dropped smartphones.

I get asked all the time, how can I backup and protect my personal data? Well I've got an answer for you! Its called iDrive.

iDrive easily secures your files from any disaster. From your personal photos to your critical business files, backup all of your family or businesses computers and smartphones into one single iDrive account at no extra cost. It works with PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads and Android devices and offers universal access by any of your devices and military grade encryption to keep everything safe. Plus, you get 1 TB of backup. Normally this would cost $59.50 but if you sign up through my special affiliate link, you save a whopping 75 percent off the first year.

No matter what happens to your hard drive or computer, with iDrive, you can rest secure. Everything is backed up and safe in the cloud with iDrive.

Smartphone Tips and Training

Did you get a shiny new smartphone or brand new tablet for the holidays? The Verizon Wireless Midwest Area team shares 3 ways to do more with your device. Verizon is a sponsor of our Roadtreking Podcast and they offer three suggestions:

Number 1: Try a new app! Download NFL Mobile today to catch every play of Sunday’s big game (even the commercials), no matter where you are.

Number 2: Get a new phone case. Find a case that matches your style and remember to sign up for a protection plan to keep your device protected from all of life’s mishaps.

Number 3: Sign up for training workshops. Think you’ve mastered your new phone? There’s so much more your phone can do! You can get personalized, hands-on training from one of you nearest Verizon Wireless store from mobile experts who will help take your mobile experience to the next level.

Interview 1: Around the Campfire at Michigan's Tahquamenon Falls

Last weekend we headed north to Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the first Winter Wonderland Roadtreking No Rules Rally. We had a group of 25 Roadtrekers from all over and talked to them around the campfire – and tons and tons of snow – including one camper who spent the weekend in a GMC Yukon.

Off the Beaten Path: Cataloochee Valley, N.C. (Great Smoky Mountains)

Listener Stan recommends the Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Cataloochee Valley is nestled among some of the most rugged mountains in the southeastern United States. Surrounded by 6,000-foot peaks, this isolated valley is renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture.

RV Bucket Destination List: Big Bend National Park (Texas)

Roadtreking Reporter Campskunk added this to his list of 10 Most Breathtaking Boondock Spots and for many good reasons. Campskunk says those with boondocking capability and a desire to experience solitude rarely found in the lower 48 states of the U.S. should definitely add Big Bend National Park to their RV Bucket Destination List.

Interview 2: Jason and Kristin Snow, The Snowmads

In this week's second interview section, I talk to Jason and Kristin Snow, aka The Snowmads. This young, adventure-addicted couple in their early 30s ditched their cubicles and conventional lives to travel a new road in an RV. We talk to them about why they did it, what they travel in, and where they're headed next. Be sure to check their website here for lots more on who they are and their continuing adventures.

Please subscribe and give us a rating and review

And, of course, many listeners are asking how they can subscribe, review and rate the Roadtreking Podcast on iTunes. With a new podcast like this, those reviews and ratings are really important to be able to show well in the iTunes listings. So if you can, I’d sure appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave me your review.

Here’s how:

First, open up the iTunes app on your computer or mobile device. Click on Podcasts up on the top
> From the iTunes Podcasts page, use the “Search Store” field up at the top right corner of the page. Type in Mike Wendland or Roadtreking RV Podcast.
> Click on the logo image of the Roadtreking RV Podcast on the search return page
> From there (see photo above), you can…

1) Subscribe

2) Choose and Click on a star (1-5) that reflects your rating. Five stars means you really like it, one star not so much.

3) Leave a written review.

Thanks to all for the kind reviews we’ve received so far. That got us noticed by Apple/iTunes as “New and Noteworthy.” I appreciate every review!

And remember, you can appear in future episodes. Ask a question or voice your comments about RV topics by clicking the Leave Voicemail tab on the right side of this page here at Roadtreking.com. You can then use the microphone on your computer to record your words.

Subscribe to our Free RV Newsletter and get a RV Packing List as a gift

Mike is a veteran journalist who, with his wife, Jennifer, travels North America in a Type B motorhome, blogging about the people, places, joys and adventure of RV life on the road. He enjoys camping (obviously), hiking, biking, fitness, photography, kayaking, video editing and all things dealing with technology. See and subscribe to his RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube, where he has hundreds of RV and travel related videos. His PC MIke TV reports, on personal technology are distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations.

Send a Voicemail for the Podcast!

Click for the RV Gear we use

Want a Free RV Packing List?

Subscribe to our free newsletter and get a free RV Packing List

* indicates required

Email Address *

Name

Best Source of RV How-To Knowledge

Stay Free in your RV

Roadtreking Archives

Roadtreking Archives

About Roadtreking

Roadtreking.com is a celebration of the RV Lifestyle, an attitude, a sense of exploration and adventure made possible by an RV, no matter its size or form. It is the work of award-winning journalist Mike Wendland, who travels North America in a Roadtrek motorhome with his wife, Jennifer. His reports, along with those from a group of experienced Roadtreking Reporter correspondents from across the continent, chronicles the interesting people and places encountered in pursuit of the RV lifestyle.